Fleas--small biting insects that feed upon warm blooded and preferably furry mammals--have probably been a problem for animals and for mankind since before recorded history. At one end of the problem spectrum is the danger of the spread of bubonic plague by fleas. Somewhat at the other end of the spectrum is the discomfort caused by flea bites to domestic animals and to the humans who care for them.
It is well known that insects of many kinds can be killed by being attracted to a sticky surface upon which they then get stuck. Fly paper is the best known example of this method of insect control.
It has been known for some time that light and especially green light attracts fleas. See, for example, "Response of the Cat Flea, Ctenocephalides Felis (Bouche), and the Oriental Rat Flea, Xenopsylla Cheopis (Rothschild), to Electromagnetic Radiation in the 300-700 Nanometer Range", by G. E. Crum, F. W. Knapp and G. M. White.
The responsiveness of fleas to "moving" targets has also been documented. Fleas were found to be reactive to a black target which was moved across a lighted background--an indication that fleas are not only responsive to light but to perceived changes in light. See "Cat Flea (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae): Factors Influencing Host-finding Behavior in the Laboratory", by Osbrink and Rust, Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am 78: 29-34 (1985).
U.S. Pat. No. 1,701,674, "Automatic Insect Trap Using Lamps", to Hitosi, discloses an insect trap using a light as an attracting means. The light can be an electric lamp, a candle or the like.
Recently, several varieties of fleas traps combining the use of light as an attractant and a sticky surface to trap the fleas have been patented and marketed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,220, "Insect Trap", to Justice, discloses a trap for catching wingless non-flying fleas comprising a trapping means having an accessible sticky surface, a light reflecting cover supported over, opposing and vertically spaced above the trapping means so as to provide open unobstructed space around the trapping means to permit fleas to jump towards the trapping means, and an electrically energized visible green light source supported over the trapping means beneath the light reflecting cover for generating both downwardly directed reflected green light and directly radiated green light for attracting fleas to jump toward and to the sticky surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,112, "Flea Trap Utilizing Night-Light" to Williams, discloses a trap for catching fleas comprising an electrically energized light source having a pair of horizontal prongs for installation in an electrical receptacle and a bulb housing secured to and supported by the prongs which enclose an electrically conductive bulb socket electrically connected to the prongs, a light reflector supported by the housing having a hook means and being oriented to the bulb to provide a horizontal reflecting surface above the bulb, and means providing a sticky landing surface located beneath the light source.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,506, "Flea Trap" to Williams, discloses a flea trap comprising a shallow pan, a sticky substance disposed in the pan, a cover having a light reflective horizontal bottom surface and spaced apart holes extending through the surface, a support means of wire-formed leg members which pass through the holes in the cover and grasp the edges of the pan, and an electrically energized visible light source secured to the cover below the light reflective surface to generate both reflected downwardly and outwardly transmitted light.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,789, "Insect Trap", to Williams, disclosed a trap for catching insects comprising a rectangular shallow pan with a pair of spaced apart holes, a sticky substance disposed in the pan, a rectangular cover of selected color having a light reflective horizontal bottom surface of selected color with a spaced apart pair of holes extending through the surface, a support means comprising a pair of wire-formed leg members for connection to the holes in the cover and in the pan in a specified manner, an electrically energized visible light source secured to the cover below the light reflective surface to provide reflected downwardly transmitted light and downwardly and outwardly transmitted light.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,998, "Device for Attracting and Trapping Fleas", to Clay, discloses a device for attracting and trapping fleas comprising a housing assembly, an attractant means located in the housing assembly, and a trapping medium means located in the housing assembly including a pan member, a top member spaced from the pan member and an open mesh screen means.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,918,856, "Insect Trap for Fleas or the Like", and 4,979,329, "Insect Trap for Fleas or the Like", both to Olive et al., disclose traps for catching insects, both comprising a self-contained source of radiation which produces a gradually decaying form of light.